Wrapping materials intended to cover goods on trucks, or the like, are well known. For many years, such wrapping materials particularly included tarpaulins. More recently, such tarpaulins have frequently been replaced with other materials, for instance polyester filament reinforced fabrics that have been coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Other examples of wrapping materials used in the transportation of goods include lumber covers. Lumber covers tend to be specialized in their construction, being intended to wrap and protect stacks of lumber from the effects of weather during actual shipping and while the lumber sits in a yard prior to sale. A typical example of lumber wrap is made of a woven high density polyethylene fabric that is coated on one or preferably both sides with an extrusion coating of low density polyethylene containing a particulate mineral filler e.g. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,831 of T. W. E. Pattenden.
Materials for the covering of goods on trucks are important for many reasons. For instance, rain and/or sun may have adverse effects on the goods, causing staining, water damage, bleaching, rusting or a variety of other adverse effects. In addition, in cold climates, sand and/or salt may be distributed on roads to overcome problems caused by snow and ice, both of which can cause significant damage to goods e.g. sand blasting-type effects accompanied by corrosion caused by the salt, resulting from the spray of slush, salt/sand mixtures or the like from vehicles passing along the road or highway. In other climates, spray from the ocean may similarly cause damage to goods on the vehicle. Coverings on trucks also discourage pilfering, vandalism or the like.
Examples of wrapping materials, especially coated woven materials, include woven high density polyethylene fabrics coated with low density polyethylene and woven polypropylene fabrics coated with polypropylene, in which the fabrics are usually formed of woven tapes. Woven coated materials of such construction generally do not have good low temperature flexibility properties. In cold climates, particularly during winter in Canada, Alaska, the northern regions of the United States of America and elsewhere in other areas of the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures are below 0.degree. C. for several months of the year and may reach -40.degree. C. or lower. Thus, an ability to withstand such temperatures without cracking, splitting or the like is important, and consequently low temperature flexibility properties can be particularly important for a number of climates. While PVC-coated polyester filament reinforced fabrics exhibit a number of useful properties, including an ability to be used at low temperature, such fabrics are capable of improvement, especially with respect to weight/unit area. Flexible PVC has a T.sub.g of about -20.degree. C.
Truck tarpaulins have been made commercially from the type of fabric and coating described in the aforementioned patent of Pattenden. However, such tarpaulins fail prematurely from damage due to wind whip and cold temperature stiffness/cracking. An improvement in toughness of the low density polyethylene (LDPE) coating employed in such tarpaulins would be beneficial. Low density polyethylene is understood to have a brittleness temperature as measured by the procedure of ASTM D746 of about -80.degree. C.